SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS RADIO) – New studies out show that boosters have been effective in keeping people from being hospitalized with COVID-19, but numbers show that a little less than 50% of people have the extra protection.
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This comes ahead of the upcoming fall when some experts believe a new surge may be on its way.
What doesn't help is that there is this new perspective amongst many that the COVID-19 pandemic is effectively over, according to Richard Carpiano, a public policy professor at UC Riverside and medical sociologist on KCBS Radio's "Ask an Expert" on Friday with Melissa Culross and Eric Thomas.
"We've been looking pretty good on numbers, in the sense that they've been going down, but at the same time we can’t let ourselves get into a false sense of security about this," he said.
Given past recent history, a fall surge is not unlikely, and with recent hot weather and kids returning to school, people are more clustered together than usual.
What is critical to mitigating a possible surge in the coming months is getting the message out and encouraging people to get the second, updated booster, said Carpiano.
The best possible thing is to make sure the vaccine is available and accessible throughout the state, not just in certain cities.
"We can't just be thinking about counties or cities as their own certain islands," he said. "We're interacting, people are traveling."
And those who are more at risk are not as small a portion of the population overall as people think, said Carpiano.
In reality, estimates put the number of immunocompromised people at about three or five out of every hundred people in the United States.
"That's a particular group that really has not been able – because even with rates being what they are right now – really to be able to enjoy the quality that many other people have been taking advantage of," he said.
In contrast, the elderly members of the population have been doing relatively well with the vaccines, said Carpiano. "But that's still not a reason for older people, 65 and older, to be letting their guard down either."
To continue making progress and ensuring that cases remain low, the national population has to work together and exercise caution – including vaccinations, masking, social distancing, and other safety measures.
"We're so used to in our country to kind of thinking about health as being something that’s really sort of personal," he said. "And we really still need to be keeping the mindset of our actions and behaviors really do have impact on other people too."
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